Description
The strong odoriferous properties of animal secretions, glands and other organ components have fascinated man for thousands of years. Whilst originally the emanating perfumes were associated with magical powers and were thus used for religious and cultural purposes, there have been a variety of other uses, for example as medicaments, since ancient times. At the start of this century, ambergris, musk and civet appeared as valuable ingredients in perfumery. Thus, the first analytical work to determine the structure of the principal odoriferous substance in ambergris took place in the mid 1920s. The start of the 1930s then saw the first work on preparing it synthetically on an industrial scale. The growing demand for fragrances could no longer be met by products of natural, vegetable and animal origin. It is only possible to meet the growing demand for fragrances having improved properties, such as odor quality, stability in technical applications, skin tolerance, environmental compatibility and also adherence, through chemical synthesis of fragrances.
In order to achieve a steady eco balance, there is a desire for products which are on the one hand made, where possible, from renewable starting materials and, on the other are biodegradable. One such starting material of natural origin which is available in large quantities is cedrene, which is present in various types of cedar wood.
As long as two decades ago, a series of secondary products of -(.alpha.)-cedrene (1) was prepared and fragrance properties described. In his book "Riechstoff und Geruchsinn" Fragrance and Sense of Smell! (Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1990, ISDN 3-540-52560-2, pages 170-172), G. Ohloff reports in summary that a series of commercial fragrances are derived from .alpha.-cedrene (1). In "Perfume and Flavor Chemicals" (No. 593-600, 602), S. Arctander describes several fragrances derived from cedrene.
The derivatives accessible from .alpha.-cedrene (1) by epoxidation, allyloxidation, esterification and etherification are sensorially desirable fragrances of the warm-woody odor type, some having an ambergris-type effect.